Log cabins utilize a primitive form of construction which has been used by persons in this and foreign countries for many years. Some of the drawbacks to current use of traditional log cabin construction are the expense and difficulty of obtaining logs of uniform size, the difficulty of insulating the structure, and the lack of room within the walls for electrical wiring. Nevertheless there is a continuing public desire for buildings having the appearance of traditional log cabins. As a result of these shortcomings, there is a need for means and methods of creating structures which, while having conventional building construction, create the desired appearance of log cabins.
Earlier designs have attempted to give the appearance of log cabin construction while not using full logs. However, these earlier designs have resorted either to partial corner construction or to complex end-piece configuration to accomplish the desired result. The partial corner construction of the prior art does not give a realistic appearance of traditional mortise log cabin construction. Further, the complex end-piece configurations of the prior art is much more complex to manufacture and is not readily adapted to speedy field construction with a minimum of tools. Thus there is a need for full corner log siding in which all pieces can be pre-formed, leaving only straight saw cuts to be made in the field.
My invention is directed to the use of wood products to fabricate log siding and corner pieces which are used in cooperation with each other to make any new or existing construction look exactly as if it has been built as traditional mortise log cabin construction.
This invention provides partial-log-shaped wood siding which can be made from standard rough cut material such as 2-inch or 3-inch boards, thus being cost competitive with other standard sidings. The use of standard rough cut material substantially reduces waste and cost. The corner pieces of this invention are pre-cut from full logs; half of the corner pieces are cut as tabbed corner pieces and half of them are cut as pointed corner pieces. The siding is erected from prefabricated pieces cut to shape to abut against the shape of the prefabricated corner pieces. No cutting tools beyond a standard circular saw are needed in the field.
My invention also provides corners of full log construction which give the entire structure a look identical to that of a traditional log cabin. The corners are constructed of prefabricated pieces which fit together without adjustment in the field. Additionally, the corner pieces are small enough that they can easily be kiln dried prior to use, thus eliminating future shrinkage and preventing the formation of gaps which require caulking.
My invention can be used on any new or existing building which has an adequate roof overhang. It provides the look of traditional log construction at greatly reduced cost; the reduced weight of this full corner log siding also reduces the costs of shipping from the factory to the building site.
My full corner log siding provides log siding and corner pieces cooperating with the siding for use on a typical structure having a foundation and four or more walls, where the walls meet perpendicularly at four or more intersecting corners, and the four or more walls rest on the foundation. The log siding is comprised of rows, a first row to abut the foundation and additional rows to extend upward therefrom. Each of the rows has one straight end and one fitted end. Each of the rows has one or more pieces.
Each of the row pieces is formed as a cylindrical segment of a pre-determined radius having width, a height, a length, a top extension, a bottom recess, an inner face along the chord of the cylindrical segment, and an imaginary center plane along the length of the piece and perpendicular to the inner face. The inner face of each piece is made to abut and be fastened to one of the four or more walls, the bottom recess of each piece of the first row to abut the foundation of the structure, and the bottom recess of each piece of every row other than the first row to overlap the top extension of the next lower piece. The straight end of each row is a piece with ends substantially perpendicular to the length of the piece.
The fitted end of each row is a piece having an inner end and a pointed end; the inner end is a surface perpendicular to the length of the piece, and the pointed end comprises two concave cylindrical surfaces, an upper concave cylindrical surface and a lower concave cylindrical surface, the radius of each of said upper and lower concave cylindrical surfaces being equal to the radius of the piece, with each of the upper and lower concave cylindrical surfaces having a height of half the height of the piece and a maximum width of the width of the piece, and with the upper concave cylindrical surface being perpendicular to the top of the cylindrical segment and the lower concave cylindrical surface being perpendicular to the bottom of the cylindrical segment; the upper and lower concave cylindrical surfaces form an apex at the imaginary center plane of the piece. Each of the fitted end pieces is made to abut and be fastened to one of the four or more walls.
Each of the corner pieces is a substantially cylindrical log of the same radius as that of the siding pieces, having an imaginary center plane along its length, said imaginary center plane being substantially horizontal, and having a top plane along a chord of the log at a distance of half the height of the siding pieces above the imaginary center plane, the top plane being substantially horizontal and having a length parallel to the length of the corner piece and having a width perpendicular to the length of the corner piece, and having a bottom plane parallel to the top plane at a distance of half the height of the siding pieces below the imaginary center plane, the bottom plane being substantially horizontal and having a length parallel to the length of the corner piece and having a width perpendicular to the length of the corner piece.
The bottom plane of the first corner piece is made to abut the foundation of the structure and the bottom plane of each corner piece other than the first corner piece is made to abut the top plane of the next lower corner piece.
Each of the corner pieces is made to extend outwardly from one of the four or more intersecting corners of the structure in either a first direction or a second direction, the first direction to extend the line of one of the walls and the second direction to be perpendicular to the first direction.
The corner pieces are either tabbed corner pieces or pointed corner pieces. Each of the tabbed corner pieces has a top plane, a bottom plane, a distal face, an inner end, a length between the distal face and the inner end, an exterior convex surface to form a 180-degree angle with an adjacent wall, and an interior convex surface to form a 90-degree angle with a second, adjacent, wall. The distal face is substantially perpendicular to the length of the tabbed corner piece. The inner end has three planes, a first plane, a second plane, and a third plane; the first plane is perpendicular to the length of the tabbed corner piece and is a circular segment of the same radius as that of the siding pieces, having width equal to that of the siding pieces, and having height equal to the height of the siding pieces; the second plane is a rectangle perpendicular to the first plane and has a width equal to the height of the siding pieces and a length less than the width of the top and bottom planes of the adjacent pointed corner pieces; and the third plane is perpendicular to the second plane. The distance between the distal face and the first plane of the inner end is greater than the distance between the distal face and the third plane of the inner end.
The interior convex surface of the tabbed corner piece is made to abut the upper concave cylindrical surface of the fitted end of one row and the lower concave cylindrical surface of the fitted end of the next higher row. The first plane of the inner end of the tabbed corner piece is made to abut the straight end of one row, the second plane of the inner end of the tabbed corner piece is made to abut one of the four or more walls at one of the four or more intersecting corners, the tabbed corner piece can be fastened to the first wall through the second plane, and the third plane of the inner end of the tabbed corner piece is made to abut the wall which intersects the one wall at that intersecting corner and the tabbed corner piece can be fastened to said intersecting wall through the third plane.
Each of the pointed corner pieces has a top plane, a bottom plane, a distal face, a pointed end, a length between the distal face and the pointed end, an exterior convex surface to form a 180-degree angle with an adjacent wall, and an interior convex surface to form a 90-degree angle with an adjacent wall. The distal face is substantially perpendicular to the length of the pointed corner piece. The pointed end comprises two concave cylindrical surfaces, an upper concave cylindrical surface and a lower concave cylindrical surface; the radius of each of the upper and lower concave cylindrical surfaces is equal to the radius of the pointed corner piece; each of the upper and lower concave cylindrical surfaces has a height equal to half the height of the siding pieces and a maximum width equal to the width of the pointed corner piece; the upper concave cylindrical surface is perpendicular to the top plane of the pointed corner piece, the lower concave cylindrical surface is perpendicular to the bottom plane of the pointed corner piece, the upper and lower concave cylindrical surfaces form an apex at the imaginary center plane of the pointed corner piece, and the lower concave cylindrical surface is made to abut the exterior convex surface of one of the tabbed corner pieces and its adjacent straight end piece and the upper concave cylindrical surface is made to abut the exterior convex surface of the next higher tabbed corner piece and its adjacent straight end piece, and the pointed corner piece can be fastened to the adjacent tabbed corner pieces and straight end pieces. The exterior convex surface of each of the pointed corner pieces extends the outer circumferential surface of a previously placed siding piece.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the invention will be become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings.